Was Swedish Artist Lars Vilks Murdered?

Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who came to infamy in 2007 when he drew a sketch of Muhammad on a dog's body, was killed in a car crash along with two police officers in an unmarked vehicle. Vilks was 75.

Now I loathe conspiracy theories. They are a poor substitute for thinking. Nevertheless I cannot help but wonder if Vilks (and the two police officers) were murdered.

I wonder this because Vilks was subject to repeated attempts on his life. In May 2010, there were two attempts on his life in a matter of days. First, Vilks was attacked while giving a lecture at a Swedish university and then his home was firebombed though he was not present during this attack. In February 2015, while giving a lecture in Copenhagen, a Danish born Palestinian disrupted the meeting and shot and killed a man who attempted to stop him. It is widely believed that Vilks was his intended victim. Vilks was also the subject of numerous assassination plots that were thwarted before they could be carried out including one involving an American woman named Colleen LaRose (a.k.a. Jihad Jane).

In view of these facts, it is possible that the car Vilks was riding in might have been tampered with thus causing the fatal collision. It is also possible that this was indeed a car accident. But given that Vilks spent nearly the last 15 years of his life under armed protection, that numerous attempts were made on his life and that he did not die of natural causes, Swedish authorities ought to investigate the possibility that Vilks' death might not have been accidental.

Red Sox & Yankees Will Face Off in AL Wild Card Match Up

Well, if this doesn't fully acclimate me back to Boston then nothing will.

The Boston Red Sox will host the New York Yankees at Fenway Park in the AL Wild Card game on Tuesday night. The winner will face the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS starting Thursday. 

The Yankees clinched their spot with a 1-0 victory over the aforementioned Rays as pinch runner Tyler Wade slid under the tag at home plate on a walk off single by Aaron Judge. The game was also notable for a spectacular catch made by Yankees shortstop Gio Urshela who fell down the stairs of the Rays dugout and would later have to leave the game.

If the Yankees lose to Boston then Aaron Boone is done after four seasons as the team's manager. The Bronx Bombers had losing records in both April and June before having a 21-8 August highlighted by a 13-game winning streak. But after the 13-game winning streak, the Yankees would lose 12 of their next 15 games before winning 9 of their last 10 games to finish September.

Simply put the Yankees are either very good or quite awful. Mostly they've been quite good but in New York City quite good isn't good enough. The Yankees have seen down years from DJ LeMahieu and Gary Sanchez and injury riddled campaigns from Luke Voit, Clint Frazier and Miguel Andujar. The mid-season acquisitions of Anthony Rizzo from the Chicago Cubs and Joey Gallo from the Texas Rangers have been mixed at best. Even closer Aroldis Chapman has had an inconsistent season. What has kept the Yankees in the mix is Gerrit Cole stepping up as an ace and the one two punch of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. 

Even if the Yankees prevail over the Red Sox on Tuesday night I don't anything short of an AL pennant will be enough for Aaron Boone to be in the Yankees dugout in 2022. 

The same cannot be said for Red Sox manager Alex Cora. The Red Sox punched their AL Wild Card berth in a 7-5 comeback victory against the Washington Nationals after being down 5-2 in the 7th inning with 2 HRs from Rafael Devers including a go ahead HR in the 9th. This marks their first post-season appearance since winning the World Series in 2018.

When Cora returned to the Red Sox dugout after a one year suspension for his role in the 2017 Houston Astros sign stealing scandal, the Red Sox were not expected to contend in 2021 with a roster that included Bobby Dalbec, Alex Verdugo and prospect turned suspect Christian Arroyo. 

Instead, the Red Sox spent a good portion of the season atop the AL East. Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley, Jr. might have been gone but Devers, J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts were still around and ex-Dodger Kike Hernandez and former Padre Hunter Renfroe provided plenty of help.

The starting rotation of Nathan Eovaldi, Eduardo Rodriguez and Nick Pivetta is decent. Chris Sale missed most of the season but was good in limited action. The bullpen of Matt Barnes, Adam Ottavino and Hirokazu Sawumura is overtaxed while Josh Taylor and Garrett Whitlock are on the IL.

Even if the Red Sox survive the Yankees I don't think they would overcome the Rays. Nevertheless, they managed to do far more in 2021 than anyone had any right to expect. 

This could have potentially been a four way AL Wild Card tiebreaker with the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners. The Blue Jays led by Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. handed the Baltimore Orioles their 110th and final loss of the 2021 season. But the Jays needed either the Yankees or Red Sox to lose and that didn't happen. 

As for the Mariners they lost to the Los Angeles Angels 7-3. So now they begin their third decade of their post-season drought. They have not been to the post-season since tying the MLB record of 116 wins in 2001. 

On a personal note, I have not been watching a lot of baseball and I currently do not have a TV. I listened to the Red Sox-Nationals game on my computer but it gave out. So I went to a sports bar near Porter Square and watched the Red Sox-Nationals, Yankees-Rays and Mariners-Angels simultaneously while most of the bar watched NFL Sunday. Although I'm uneasy in crowds of drunken people, I plan to go back on Tuesday night to watch at least a bit of the Red Sox-Yankees Wild Card game. I'm back in Boston. So I might as well.

Judee Sill Mesmerized Bostonians 50 Years Ago Tonight

 

Fifty years ago tonight, indeed probably at this very hour on October 3, 1971, a 26-year old singer-songwriter named Judee Sill took the stage of the Boston Music Hall (now the Wang Theatre) and played a seven song acoustic set from her eponymous debut album Judee Sill as the opening act for Crosby & Nash. Had I been alive, sentient and living in Boston I would have surely been there.

A live recording of that night exists and Sill's voice is angelic and mesmerizing. Her melodies belied a hard life of crime, drugs and physical pain that would come to an end on November 23, 1979 at the age of 35. 

During her lifetime, Sill only recorded two albums Judee Sill and Heart Food under David Geffen's nascent Asylum label. Neither sold well and Geffen would soon drop her in the midst of recording a third album in 1974.

More than three decades that unfinished third album Dreams Come True would spark a renewed interest in Sill's work and over the past 15 years or so Sill has gained the kind of following she could have only dreamed of during her brief lifetime. I first became familiar with Sill's music in 2016. The combination of her distinct voice, melodic arrangements, intricate guitar and piano playing and religious imagery in her lyrics hit me hard - especially a song called "The Donor". This song is so intense I can only listen to it a couple of times a year.

My go to Sill song is "The Lamb Ran Away With The Crown". But another song worthy of attention is "Lady-O" which the The Turtles had a minor hit with two years before Sill recorded it. I listen to it and can easily imagine myself in that audience. For your convenience, I have posted "Lady-O" at the top of this post.

After all, I would see Crosby and Nash (along with Stephen Stills) in that very same venue in 2015. Now Crosby and Nash no longer speak to each other and Sill has been silent for more than four decades. When Nash said, “We’ve performed in thousands of venues, but this one has a really spectacular view.” It is worth noting that Nash produced one of Sill's song "Jesus Was a Crossmaker" (which she performed that night). All these years later, I now if memories of Judee Sill's music are part of Nash's spectacular view. 

Judee Sill's music would not be appreciated in the way it ought to have been until decades after her death. But for about 30 minutes 50 years ago tonight, Judee Sill mesmerized Bostonians.

Giants Clinch NL West With Franchise Record 107 Wins; Dodgers Settle For WC Matchup vs. Cardinals

On the final day of the regular season, the San Francisco Giants clinched the NL West with a decisive 11-4 victory over the San Diego Padres. It is their first playoff berth since 2016 and first NL West title since 2012 ending the Los Angeles Dodgers' streak of 8 consecutive NL West titles. More on the Dodgers later. 

In winning today, the Giants set a franchise record with 107 wins eclipsing the 1904 New York Giants who won 106 games under John McGraw. Ironically, despite their 106 wins, McGraw would chicken out of a World Series matchup against the defending champion Boston Americans. 

Needless to say, no one expected the Giants to contend much less set a franchise record for victories in 2021. But the Giants played .600 ball or better every single month of the season and managed to save their best for September/October winning 23 of their final 30 games. The Giants, under the stewardship of Gabe Kapler, have been in first place or have had a share for first place since April 26th. 

What is remarkable about the Giants is that they did all this without anyone hitting 30 HR or driving in 100 runs. Rather their offense was spread out with 10 players hitting 10 or more HR. It would have been 11 if Kris Bryant had been with the team for a full season. Somehow Brandon Crawford, at the age of 34, put together his best offensive season of his career hitting .298 with 24 HR and 90 RBI.

The Giants pitching was also steady with four starting pitchers in double digits in wins (Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafini, Logan Webb and Alex Wood) and 35-year old veteran Johnny Cueto at the back of the rotation. Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee proved an effective one-two punch in the bullpen. 

The Giants will host the NLDS this coming Friday against either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the St. Louis Cardinals. The Dodgers and Cardinals will face off in the NL Wild Card match on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.

The defending World Series champions clinched the first seed of the NL Wild Card with a decisive 10-3 victory over the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers. With 106 wins (tying their franchise record of wins set in 2019) would be considered heavy favorites. But the Cardinals' recent 17 game winning streak and Adam Wainwright on the mound make this match up a big task for the Dodgers.

Still, the Dodgers have an All-Star Team from top to bottom with the likes of Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Justin Turner, Will Smith, Corey Seager as well as Trea Turner acquired from the Washington Nationals in the Max Scherzer deal. You know you're good when Albert Pujols is a bench player. You also know you're good when your team can survive 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger hitting .165.

You further know you're good when you can survive both not having Clayton Kershaw in the post-season, Trevor Bauer in your rotation and David Price is an afterthought. Julio Urias had a breakout season with 20 wins while Walker Buehler was steady with 15 wins. Oh yeah, Max Scherzer went 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA in 11 starts with the Dodgers. Kenley Jansen is a mainstay in the bullpen and is ably accompanied by Blake Treinen, Joe Kelly and Phil Bickford. 

Nevertheless, the Dodgers must be grateful for the Wild Card otherwise they would be watching from home despite their 106 wins. 

700,000 Americans Have Died of COVID-19

America marks the first day of October by recording the 700,000th death from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Johns Hopkins University, 700,258 Americans have died of COVID-19 out of 43,617,650 cases representing a mortality rate of 1.6%. 

Of course, there was a time earlier this year when COVID-19 was claiming 100,000 Americans every four to five weeks. By comparison, it has taken 108 days for the COVID death toll in this country to go from 600,000 to 700,000. However, 75,000 of those deaths have taken place just over the past six weeks. 

So let's break it down. It took 65 days to get from 600,000 to 625,000 deaths. But then it took only 19 days to go from 625,000 to 650,000 deaths. We reached 675,000 deaths in 13 days and now we've added another 25,000 in 11 days to top 700,000 deaths. Chances the number of days it will take to get to 725,000 deaths will be in single digits. Sadly, none of this should come as a surprise. COVID cases began to surge in late June. With deaths being a lagging indicator the fatalities didn't begin to spike until mid-August. So now here we are. 

Yes, here we are ranking 43rd in the world at 56.3% of our population fully vaccinated just behind Ecuador.

What would life in the U.S. be like if 75% of all Americans were fully vaccinated just like they are in Denmark? What would life in the U.S. be like if nearly 85% of all Americans were fully vaccinated just like they are in Portugal? If between 75% to 85% of Americans were fully vaccinated the COVID death toll would not have reached 700,000 and counting. 

But in order for America to have 75 to 85% of its population fully vaccinated requires trust in our public institutions. They have that in Denmark and Portugal. There was no meaningful resistance to its vaccine mandates. That sort of trust cannot be found here or at least in significant pockets of the country especially those that strongly support former President Trump. Hence the term "Red COVID". 

As such, I cannot help but wonder if America will reach 1 million COVID deaths before the end of 2021.

Rand Paul Blocks Funding for Israel's Iron Dome

Last week, the House overwhelmingly passed a stand alone resolution providing $1 billion for Israel's Iron Dome after so-called progressive Democrats led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were successful in removing it from legislation to keep the federal government funded.

The efforts of the House have now been thwarted (at least temporarily) by Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul who objected to fast tracking the legislation. 

In the grand scheme of things this shouldn't come as a surprise. A decade ago, Paul called for an end to all aid to Israel. More recently, in November 2018, Paul used the same maneuver on long term military aid to Israel as legislation to counter the BDS movement.

Paul has said he'll drop his objections if spending cuts are made elsewhere namely on resettling Afghan refugees which a spokesman odiously claims is going to the Taliban. 

Senator Paul is simply a buffoon who is unworthy of being taken seriously. The problem is that he is a Senator and can make mischief whether it's his pointless exchanges with Dr. Fauci on his conspiracy theories about COVID or his insistence of playing games with Israel's security.

Israel will get its funding eventually. But what if Hamas decided to barrage Israel with rockets in the interim? In that case there will be blood on Rand Paul's dirty hands.

Trudeau Angers Indigenous Community As He Vacationed Instead of Observing Day of Truth & Reconciliation

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has outraged the Indigenous community people for not observing the inaugural National Day of Truth and Reconciliation which took place yesterday. National Day of Truth and Reconciliation honors the Indigenous people who both survived and died in Canada's residential schools. On a personal note, my maternal aunt was a survivor of a residential school.

Given the significance of this day one would think Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would be front and center. Instead, he spent his day vacationing on a beach in Tofino, British Columbia near Vancouver. He would have been wiser to have traveled up the Interior into Kamloops where mass graves of 215 Aboriginal children were discovered back in May. 

But Trudeau possesses no such wisdom. For his part, Trudeau claimed he spoke over the phone with residential school survivors. Then again, the Prime Minister's Office claimed he would be spending the day in Ottawa when in reality he was nearly 2,900 miles away. 

Needless to say, nobody is buying it. Lynne Groulx, President of the Native Women's Association of Canada, issued a press release bluntly stating that Trudeau "doesn't give a fuck" about Indigenous people. 

Although Trudeau will take a beating over this for a few days, he will very likely get away with it just a he got away with wearing blackface. After all, his party was re-elected a week and a half ago and doesn't have to face voters again anytime soon and perhaps ever if he chooses not to seek a fourth term in office. If he does seek re-election be it in 2023 or in 2025 this episode will have been long forgotten by most including many in Canada's Indigenous community. Or those that do remember will still view Trudeau as the least of all evils. 

Yet the least Trudeau could have done yesterday was to go to Kamloops or Marieval, Saskatchewan. But it would appear that Trudeau doesn't care in the least.